Civil Unions: A Redesign Of God’s Family Design

Before same-sex marriage became the chief focus and the courts made it an easy-to-accomplish goal, civil unions were the refuge for legal homosexual partnerships.

Civil unions are defined as a civil or registered partnership that is legally recognized by governments as something that is similar to marriage.

After the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013’s U.S. v. Windsor struck down the Defense of Marriage Act’s federal definition of marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife”,, state laws and constitutional amendments enforcing the primacy of traditional marriage have fallen like dominoes. But gay men and lesbians continue to also push for civil unions in addition to full marriage recognition for the purpose of being eligible for benefits associated with married couples.

Many Christians opposed to the redefinition of marriage after the Supreme Court’s U.S. v. Windsor decision are now advocating civil unions as if they are some kind of compromise they can now live with since is not technically the same thing as marriage.

I say no to civil unions as well.

I say that the endorsement of civil unions between two men or two women is an endorsement of what God calls an abomination (see Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26, 27 and I Corinthians 6:9).

At the same time, in obedience to God’s Word and will, I am just as compelled to reject civil unions between heterosexuals for the same reason I am compelled to reject civil unions between gay men and lesbians.

God created man and woman so that they may unite as one in marriage. They enter into a covenant relationship with one another and God so that they might carry out God’s plan of procreation and salvation for all mankind.

Whenever the Bible mentions marriage, it is between a male and a female. The Word of God says a man should leave his parents and be united to a woman as his wife. The Bible does not advocate a man uniting with a woman into a civil partnership with no commitment before God.

When government sanctions a “civil union” between any couple that is not married to one another, and grants them benefits generally reserved for a man and women who are married, it is an act of defiance against God’s design of family – by both government and those who choose to live in so-called civil unions.

That’s why I refuse to encourage civil unions for homosexual relationships for the same reason I don’t encourage it for heterosexuals.

Civil unions are man’s way of living in sin and seeking validation of that sin.

To encourage civil unions under any circumstances is to help the lost to eternal damnation and foster a permanent separation from God. Such a union will never lead to reconciliation with God and the assurance of eternal life.

I see no wisdom or Biblical reasoning to support civil unions, regardless of what a lawyer, judge or elected official may say to the contrary.

God’s design of family should not be distorted or tampered with by any level of state or federal government, no matter the cultural perversions and political pressure from an increasingly godless society.

Stacy Swimp is a member of the national advisory council of the Project 21 black leadership network. Comments may be sent to [email protected].